A US federal judge has certified settlement of 43 million Linden dollars, or $172,000, of a class action by 57,000 Second Life property owners who lost their virtual property.

Linden Research argued against the notion that virtual property was real ownership of tangible property, claiming instead: “Second Life users own copyrights in the virtual land and items that they purchase or create”.

The judge devoted a great deal of time to analyzing the meaning of ownership of virtual property, Gardere reports.